Medieval European Body Culture, with Dr Maciej Talaga
Dr Maciej Talaga is an assistant professor at the University of Warsaw. His research interests have revolved around premodern European martial traditions, with particular focus on late medieval, Central European and the so-called German School of fighting. His goal is to elevate HEMA studies into a legitimate field of research within academic history and archaeology. Maciej […]
You’re a Fechtmeister too, with Liam Clark
Liam H. Clarke is a historical fencer with a focus on Renaissance-era German fencing traditions, specifically the work of Joachim Meyer. He has been practicing since 2016, first in the Rocky Mountains before returning home to the Pacific Northwest. For the last few years, he has been delving into the archives, researching the lives and […]
The Notebook and a Zibaldone Salad with Roland Allen
Roland Allen is the author of The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper. The book is about the development of the notebook (i.e. a book you write in yourself) in European history, and it covers everything from the development of paper as a cheaper thing to write on than vellum, to wax tablets, to […]
Writing Historical Novels: the Facts and the Fiction, with Elizabeth Chadwick
Elizabeth Chadwick is an award winning best-selling writer of historical fiction. She has been writing since she was a teenager, but it took many years and many books before she was finally published. She has had great success since, so it’s a good example for aspiring writers out there to keep going! In our conversation […]
Horse Armour at the Royal Armouries, with Eleanor Wilkinson-Keys
Today’s episode is with Eleanor Wilkinson-Keys, who is Assistant Curator of Arms and Armour at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. She has an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Leeds, and works with the European armour and edge weapons collections, which makes us all extremely jealous, and the Asian and African collection […]
How to fight like Sir Gawain, with Dr Przemysław Grabowski-Górniak
Dr. Przemysław Grabowski-Górniak is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of English Studies at the University of Warsaw. His research focuses on the chivalric tradition of the late Middle Ages, be it chivalric romances or medieval manuscripts and treatises on the art of war, with a special focus on the English literary portrayals of Sir […]
Seven Frenchmen vs. Seven Englishmen: who will win? With Dr. Rachael Whitbread
Dr Rachael Whitbread is a historian and author. Her PhD from York University was on tournaments, jousts and duels. She is the co-author with Graham Callister of Battle: Understanding Conflict from Hastings to Helmand, and is currently working on a book called Duel: Single Combat in Medieval England for Pen and Sword Press, which sounds […]
Force of Virtue with Jack Gassman
Jack Gassman, runs Horseman of Eire, an equestrian training school and medieval combat academy outside of Wexford in Ireland with Alessia Pagani. Alessia specialises in natural horsemanship, and Jack takes care of the swords. I interviewed them both in Episode 124 of the show. Jack has now invented and published a game that is very […]
Patience and Perspective, with Ginny Beatty
Ginny Beatty is a historical fencer in the SCA in Ohio, USA, and she took up arms in her late forties, having done everything else first: historical cookery, archery, heraldry, and making costumes, armour and weapons. She now loves fencing with a rapier and buckler and explains the importance of pushing yourself out of your […]
The importance of mixer taps, with Eleanor Janega
I am delighted to announce that Dr Eleanor Janega is back! She was first on the show way back in episode 16, which is one of our most popular episodes. Since her last appearance on The Sword Guy, Eleanor has published a book and been on TV. Time to catch up on what she has […]